Encountering Heat
by SweetSinger2010
Summary: Four people, two beds, one hotel room. Ryan and Esposito have made sure that Castle and Beckett will be snuggling up for the night. Can they get along, or is the situation too hot for Detective Beckett to handle?
1. Encountering Heat

Author's Note: A little weekend one-shot, because who doesn't want to spend the evening with our three favorite guys? This is set late season three, before L.A. I hope you enjoy this little blurb. Drop a review and let me know what you think! Oh, and rights to Castle aren't mine. Now onward and forward.

Encountering Heat

As the empty beer bottles mounted on the break-room table, so did the tipsy trio's raucous laughter.

"So," Esposito stuttered around a chortle and another sip, "it's four o'clock in the morning and she wakes up to the phone on the first ring, listens, says 'Mkay,' flips on the light—and, man, I'm _tellin'_ you—her eyes were all raccooned 'n' bloodshot like she spent the night in the drunk tank! Her hair was a mess to begin with 'cause of—" Javier stopped short, suddenly realizing that his sassy M.E. girlfriend might appreciate he preserve some shred of her dignity. "Well anyway, it was a sight to see." His eyes lost a little of their irresponsible sparkle, mollified by the thought of the scolding he'd get if word of this conversation _ever_ got back to Lanie.

Castle sensed the detective's discomfort. He nudged Ryan and leaned forward. "Did you laugh?"

"Nah, man! You crazy? She'd have killed me for sure."

"Gosh, you're right." Castle rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, affecting a mock-seriousness. "And then she would have lied about cause of death in the autopsy report."

"Dang, bro!" Ryan played right in, knowing his partner was _just_ drunk enough to take the matter very seriously. "You'd better watch your mouth."

Esposito's eyes darted nervously from face to face, holding deadpan glances. Suddenly, they all burst out laughing.

"Yeah, right." the Latino detective slurred, back-handing a mist of tears from his eyes. Ryan shook his head.

"Jenny is _not_ a morning person. First couple of times we spent the night together, she looked murder at me when I tried to talk to her in the morning."

Castle snorted into his longneck. "Alexis does the same thing to me before she's had her breakfast. Especially on Saturdays if she's stayed out late the night before, she just stares at me like I—I—what?"

Ryan and Esposito sported twin expressions, much more solemn than the ones previously worn by Ryan and Castle.

"Dude." The tone said, _Are you freaking kidding me?_

Thinly-veiled contempt. "Shut _up_."

Castle was genuinely offended. "What? Why?"

Ryan kicked his chair back from the table and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, folding his hands in the manner of one staging a great intervention. "Castle, you've been known as New York's playboy."

"You've been married _twice_ and scored more times than almost any guy I know."

Castle knit his eyebrows in confusion. "And?"

"_And_," Esposito began with a deprecating shake of the head, "you're telling us about your teenage _daughter_."

"But I love Alexis," Castle argued, dumbfounded.

Ryan and Esposito shook their heads. "Not the point," they refuted in unison.

No one was laughing anymore.

"Alright," Castle said slowly. Testosterone levels in the room were on a sharp incline. "What do you want to hear?"

The detective duo exchanged a glance, silent conversation. Should they ask? Did they dare?

Oh yeah.

"Tell us about Beckett."

"Beckett." The author repeated. "What about her?"

"Dude!" Annoyed incredulity.

"Castle, are you serious?" Aside: "Is he serious?"

"I _hope_ not."

The banter was quickly getting old. Castle grinned condescendingly. "You know, I think you two should go out. I really do. It's perfect! You finish each other's sentences, talk with your eyes, anticipate each other's train of thought. I _might_ even start calling you _Roach_."

Esposito rolled his eyes at the combination of their pseudonyms—Raley and Ochoa—in Castle's _Nikki_ _Heat_ series. But Ryan kept grilling the writer for information.

"What's she _like_?"

The stares fixed on him were unrelenting and doubly aggravating, which was why Castle decided to indulge them. "You wanna know? I'll tell you." He leaned in confidentially. His lips twitched. "She doesn't say much, you know? Like she wants a moment to gather her thoughts and relax."

Ryan and Esposito's heads were nearly touching, they were so engrossed in the tell-all. Castle resisted the urge to snort rudely; what girls.

"And then she does this—_thing_."

"What 'thing'?" The question was disgustingly eager.

Castle made a show of glancing around the empty precinct and lowered his voice to a husky whisper. "Sometimes she'll bite her lower lip—"

There was a dual jaw-drop.

"—and then she'll close her eyes and take a deep breath—"

Their eyes were unashamedly bugging out of their heads. Castle was enjoying himself immensely.

"—and _that_..." he paused dramatically, building the anticipation, "is when she ducks under the tape to go investigate her next crime scene."

Ryan huffed his disappointment and leaned back, folding his arms across his chest. Esposito shook his head.

"Cute, Castle. Really cute."

"Seriously, dude."

"Seriously." Castle was very much in earnest. "There's nothing like that to tell."

And then he remembered the way they'd kissed, and he had to eat his words. Her response to his touch was more than just a ruse to get past an armed muscle-man.

"We are not—and _never_ have been—sleeping together," he qualified bluntly, pleased that he was no longer obfuscating the truth. As much.

"But Castle, you're so into her. We've seen the way you look at her. Like—like—"

"Like she's your whole world," Ryan supplied for his partner, softly. Neither of the other men scoffed at the romantic insight birthed from his relationship with Jenny. They'd entered a no-bull conversation zone. Castle sighed wearily.

"Something like that."

"Why don't you talk to her?"

"Right!" Castle actually laughed. "I've imagined that scenario a hundred times; what I'd say, what she'd say." His brow furrowed. "Oddly enough, I can't picture an ending that doesn't involve me staring down the barrel of her gun."

Esposito's expression conveyed extreme solemnity. "I don't think so, bro."

In man-speak, that meant _I know something you don't know_.

Castle pounced. "Why?"

"Remember when the 3XK got the drop on you and Ryan?"

"Yeah." How could he forget? Later, after they'd been discovered, Kate came to comfort him, laying her slender hand on his knee and he'd held it there like she was his only anchor.

Esposito nodded. "Your mom called just as Beckett was leaving that night. I could actually see her turning pale." He paused, reliving the moment, and Castle's heart skittered wildly.

"And?" He pressed anxiously when Javier didn't continue. Could he dare to hope that Kate _cared_ about him?

"Until we showed up at the motel, she thought you were dead. I bet Ryan here thought _he_ was having a hard time with his face all smashed in _and_ his gun and shield missing—"

Esposito couldn't resist ribbing his best friend and the other man glowered unappreciatively.

"—but, really Castle, I _know_ she's into you the way you're into her. You should've seen her face when—"

"When _what_, Esposito?"

The voice was definitely hers. Definitely suspicious. _Definitely_ unexpected.

Ryan jumped and swore, knocking over his current beer and the two previous ones. Esposito's mouth snapped shut with an audible _click_. Castle never lost his cool.

"When you found pictures from your modeling days plastered all over your desktop," he supplied smoothly, flashing her his signature grin.

Her severe gaze faltered and her lips pursed, but her eyes danced. "I very vividly remember telling you two _not_ to tell Castle about that."

They stammered wordlessly; they'd never let it slip. "Uh…."

Castle wiggled his eyebrows mischievously at the two flabbergasted detectives.

Beckett strode over to the counter where she'd forgotten her phone hours ago. "I hope you plan to catch a cab," she addressed all of them with an arched eyebrow, half-teasing. "It smells like a brewery in here."

"Yep."

"Good." She turned on her heel to leave. "Good night, Ryan, Esposito." She paused on the threshold and titled her head back over her shoulder, dropping her voice slightly when she spoke suggestively. "Castle."

She caught a glimpse of his face and had to bite her tongue to keep from grinning like a schoolgirl as she left.

"What the heck, Castle?"

"We never told you about that!"

Kate shook her head when she heard their voices pick up again.

Purposefully, she leaned over her desk—well in view of the break room—pretending to dig through files and enjoyed the heat that pricked her cheeks when she felt _him_ watching her from behind.

She was no fool; she heard much more of the conversation than she let on.

Straightening, she adjusted her coat slowly. She was tempted to go back in and confront Castle about their feelings for each other. It was high time, wasn't it? Time for the games to end.

She thought about the look of consternation that flashed in his eyes in the brief moment it took him to realize she was in the room. It _was_ fun—sometimes—to keep him wondering.

She got in the elevator and as she turned to face forward, he caught her eye. He stood where she had just a moment ago, an unfathomable expression on his face.

Smiling slightly, Kate Beckett bit her lower lip and dipped her head just as the doors slid shut in front of her. _Someday_, she thought.

In the squad room, Castle stood firmly rooted. Her performance in the break room left him with the impression that he'd just been played. Her somewhat coy—and incredibly sexy—display in the elevator left him with the impression that she _wasn't_ playing.

Lying awake in bed that night, Castle discovered he didn't mind either very much.


	2. Body Heat, Part 1

Author's Note: I didn't really intend to write a follow up to Encountering Heat, but I was struck with this little idea around Christmas time and developed it after this season wrapped up. I'm a bit rusty with my writing and I'm not entirely satisfied with the results, but here it is. A little long, so I split it up. Enjoy!

Encountering Heat

_Body Heat, Part 1_

The silence in the car was about as icy as the road they were driving on. Kate Beckett was in a foul mood. Rick Castle was in a Christmassy one. In super-stealth mode, his hand flicked toward the radio dial.

"Touch it and die," she warned through clenched teeth. His fingers hovered decimeters from their target and didn't move. He had _really_ been hoping to hear some Christmas Sinatra. He looked at her, pleading impishly.

"Not even a little bit of—"

"_No._"

Castle chose to live to die another day and withdrew his hand. "Okay."

Beckett blew a stress-heavy sigh, shaking her head. Wiggling her gloved fingers from their vice-like grip on the steering wheel, she briefly entertained the idea that maybe she was being unduly impatient with Castle. Venturing out to some boondock, backwoods upstate New York town to follow up a lead wasn't anyone's idea of pre-Christmas fun.

The beginning of the week had dumped a double homicide in their laps. It was a complicated mess of a case that tested even Castle's ingenuity. Almost on a fluke, they made an arrest and ended up with a pale, skinny bookie who was just about as afraid of Detective Beckett as he was of his mafia employers. Nonetheless, he figured the lady cop would be merciful in ways that his bosses would not. Valuing life in prison over no life at all, he promptly gave up the supposed location of the murderer. Captain Gates then sent Beckett, Castle, Ryan, and Esposito upstate to coordinate with the local authorities to make an arrest.

The upshot of the situation was that the murderer _had_ been apprehended that afternoon.

By the FBI.

Kate's jaw tightened. The fresh memory of the jurisdiction showdown rankled her soul and left an acid taste in her mouth. She _hated_ having to hand a case to the feds. Now the team was at loose ends for the night, having no choice but to find somewhere to stay until daylight and better weather made for safe travel.

"It's not the end of the world, you know," Castle spoke up, subdued. No teasing, no intent to pester. Just the simple truth. Kate turned her head to stare at him, eyes widening slightly with disbelief. It was like he'd read her mind. While she re-focused on the road, wondering _how does he __**do**__ that?_, he shrugged dismissively.

"Just think of it this way." Green dashboard lighting illuminated a twinkle in his eye. "Your paperwork load just got cut in half."

Beckett's lips twitched against a smile, so she bit the inside of her cheek and summoned stray drops of remaining irritation to keep him from catching on to her lightening mood. "Sure, Castle."

His phone rang and he answered promptly. "Hey, Ryan. Did you guys—" He paused, listening. He stole a sideways glance at Beckett and swallowed nervously. "Uh, ok. That's—yeah. Ok. See you there."

"What?" Beckett questioned after Castle hung up. He had to clear his throat before he could answer her. He knew she could sense fear, and he didn't want his voice to crack like a thirteen year old's.

"That was Ryan and Esposito. They found a little motel, about five miles up, can't miss it. We're in room 106."

Kate's eyebrows spoke volumes. _We_? She asked without really asking.

"Slim pickings, I guess," he explained in a don't-shoot-the-messenger tone. He ignored his partner's forceful, inquisitive stare, choosing not to elaborate any further. He wanted to sink into the floorboard. He figured he had maybe fifteen minutes to live. She'd shoot him for sure.

When they arrived at the squalid place, Beckett opened the door to room 106 and discovered just how slim the pickings were. When Castle said _we_, she had no idea that what he really meant was, "We _all_—the four of us—are being crammed into room 106."

The oversized room held a lopsided desk, a lopsided desk chair, and two rumpled-looking queen beds, one of which was already occupied by Ryan and Esposito. They were flopped out on the mattress watching tv, a huge pillow barrier built between them. The other bed was obviously left for Castle and Beckett to share.

Castle came up behind her in the doorway, carrying their overnight bags. He peered over her shoulders and saw Ryan and Esposito both grinning at him like morons. Practically drooling with anticipation. They thought they'd set Castle up good. He shot them an ugly glare, mouthing, _I hate you._

Kate finally crossed the threshold and Castle timidly followed. In the earlier days of their partnership, he had imagined many scenarios under which he might share a bed with the sexy detective. This was absolutely _not_ one of them.

Deadly silent, she sat down on the edge of the bed and peeled off her boots and socks. "I'm showering," she announced tersely. She turned to Castle, all but yanking her bag out of his hand. She pointed to the left side of the mattress. "That's my side."

"I'll—I'll take that one, then," he stammered dumbly, motioning to the right. He wanted to kick himself for feeling intimidated by her no-nonsense eyes and don't-screw-with-me tone. He watched her walk away, as he'd done so many times before. And as always, the subtle sway of her hips told him that her mood wasn't _all_ that bad. She might be tired and annoyed, but she was definitely toying with him. Again.

What was it she'd said that time in the elevator? _Oh, so many layers to the Beckett onion. However will you peel them all? _

Ryan and Esposito waited until they heard the shower running to start in on Castle, who could sense their childish glee. He thought of all the vindictive things he could do to their characters in the next _Nikki Heat_ novel. He snarled a smile. They didn't care.

"You are _so_ whipped."

"Yeah, bro. Maybe even as bad as Ryan."

While Ryan sputtered and tried to formulate a response, Castle just shook his head and muttered under his breath. "I know."

Kate knew too. She'd known it from the start. As much as he'd bugged her, she bugged him even more. She was the most complex mystery he'd ever met with. Seemingly impossible to solve. For a long time, she'd found ghoulish delight in his instant, obsessive-compulsive need to try.

_It would've been great_, he said.

_You've no idea_, she said.


	3. Body Heat, Part 2

Author's Note: Thanks to all who added this story to alerts. Hopefully part two will be worth your time! I'm thinking about keeping this fic open for more standalone and tag-like ficlets featuring Caskett. Feedback?

Encountering Heat

_Body Heat, Part 2_

"Three and a half years later and sometimes it feels like square freakin' _one_." Beckett mumbled to herself as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair. She continued to stand there until the suds were long gone and the hot water began to falter. After she got out, she dried off and wound the thick towel in her hair while she smoothed on some lotion and dressed.

Had she known that she'd be sharing a bed with anyone tonight, she _really_ would have packed something more substantial to sleep in. The cute shorts and t-shirt set she'd thrown in the bag revealed toned thighs, the smooth curves of her waist, and a soft, feminine décolletage marred only by the round, jagged scar between her breasts.

She saw it and frowned. She pulled on a sports bra to wear underneath her shirt. For reasons that she couldn't explain or even begin to put a finger on, she didn't want Rick to see the scar. Not yet. She turned back to the mirror and noted with satisfaction that the extra garment had done its duty. What scar?

She opened the door and the contrast between the humid bathroom and frigid hotel room was enough to make her shiver instantly. Her skin crawled with goosebumps as she turned off the television—Ryan and Esposito were both asleep, snoring—and made her way to the bed. The only light on in the room was the lamp on the nightstand. It glowed tacky yellow and she could see Castle lying on his back, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling.

He didn't move when she sat down on the edge of the bed and she noticed—much to Castle's credit—that he only stared at her long, smooth legs for a second before she slipped them beneath the covers. She reached up to turn off the light, an action which clearly stated that there would be no pillow talk. She rolled onto her side, back facing Castle, and hoped that sleep would come quickly.

It didn't.

The onset of fall and winter had thrown a wrench in Beckett's physical therapy; the stinging New York cold made her chest ache. Tonight was especially bad. Tense from the pain, Kate's muscles refused to relax. This, combined with the heavy chill in the room and an inability to breathe deeply, produced uncontrollable shivering and frustration almost to the point of tears.

"Kate," Castle spoke softly in the darkness. "You're freezing."

She didn't know whether to kick him or just ignore him completely. "Thank you, Captain Obvious," she returned, growling under her breath.

The silence reigning between them asked, _So?_

Castle gave a clumsy invitation for Kate to move closer. Regretted it almost instantly. The only move Beckett made was to roll to her other side so that she could glare at him in the dark.

"_What?_"

"No, what I meant was—"

"You want me to _sleep with you_, Castle? _That's_ your solution?"

Kate was _this close_ to raising her voice and Castle was becoming increasingly concerned; their conversation would provide endless fodder for Ryan and Esposito to taunt him with in the morning.

"Nonononono," he tried to explain in a frantic whisper. Kate didn't have to see him to know that he was holding up his hands in self-defense. "I didn't mean _sleep_ with me. I meant sleep _with_ me. Just, you know, like, for warmth. Body heat." He was fumbling. Bad.

"Body heat," she repeated dubiously. She must have been more tired than she thought, because the idea sounded ludicrously good.

"It's just—I mean—I know you're cold—it's cold in here—a-and these blankets are crap."

Kate sighed heavily, losing a vicious battle with her pride as she conceded to Castle's offer. She allowed him to pull her close, tucking her head under his chin as he gently circled his arms around her. She relaxed; the relief she felt from the cold was immediate.

"Better?" Castle asked after she finally stopped shivering.

"Much," she admitted grudgingly. After a long pause she added in a softer tone, "Thank you."

Castle had to bite his tongue against the "My pleasure" that threatened to tumble out of his mouth. Tonight was not the night for double entendre. "Well," he joked, "I'm glad that this is working out better than it did when we were in the freezer."

"You _would _bring that up," Beckett yawned. He could hear the smile in her voice. "Good night, Castle."

"Good night, Kate."

She _thought_, as she drifted off to sleep, that she felt him plant a soft kiss in her hair and whisper something to himself about smelling like cherries. Instead of putting a stop to his nonsense, she let her mind wander farther and farther, wondering what it would be like if she was this close to him all the time…

A sudden outburst ruined her reverie and she started awake.

"This is _great_!"

She shook her head, four years past wanting to know what he was thinking. "So is sleeping, Castle." _Shut up_.

"I've got it," he continued excitedly, like it wasn't almost one a.m. "A follow-up to _Frozen Heat._ Picture this: Heat and Rook venture upstate on the trail of a grisly serial killer and they get trapped in an isolated cabin by a snowstorm. They have to huddle together to stay warm, of course; there's no firewood. _Body Heat_! That'll be the title. And—ooh—and _then_, I could find a place to wedge in a nice, _steamy_ se—aaaaaahhhhhhh!"

Kate pressed her icy feet against Castle's legs, effectively shutting him up.

"Why do women _do_ that?" He hissed through clenched teeth.

"Castle," she began sternly, but he noticed a sly, sexy edge in her voice. "I agreed to be your muse, but I do _not_ want to hear about Heat and Rook when we are in bed together. It's too…_meta_."

His mouth fell open, but he had no words for almost a full minute. So much for no double entendre. "Well played, Detective," he complimented archly. "I see what you did there."

"Good _night_, Castle."

"It will be if you _don't_ do that again."

She rolled her drooping eyes. "Scout's honor."

The rest of the night passed quietly and when Kate woke in the morning, she felt strangely upbeat and better-rested than she had in months. She didn't spend too much time trying to figure out why that might be.

She left the room while Castle was getting ready, following Ryan and Esposito to the motel's breakfast bar in the lobby building. She couldn't help but smile when she saw the new fallen blanket of snow glittering in the morning sun. Her cheerful mood was expanding and she had just begun to reconsider her moratorium on Castle's radio privileges when something on the windshield of her car caught her eye. She drew closer and was mortified to see:

_How was that BODY HEAT?_

scrawled in huge letters through the ice and snow. She remembered the whole exchange between her and Castle and wanted to crawl in a deep, deep hole of embarrassment.

Oh, but she was going to take them down with her.

"_Ryan! Esposito!_"

They took a running head start. They knew they needed it.


End file.
